Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 19:7

Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do [it]: for [there is] no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

2Ch 19:7

Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you.

Jehoshaphat reproved

I. His sin. This was–

1. Helping in an ungodly enterprise, against which the prophet had warned him.

2. Forming an alliance, of which the influence on himself, his family, and people could only be bad. It fills one with a kind of despair to see how, among those who profess to regard religion an all-important, friendships and alliances discussed and fixed without this ever coming into view.

II. The rebuke which followed the kings sin.

III. The kings repentance.

1. He received reproof with meekness.

2. He kept aloof from occasions of fresh sin.

3. He did what he could to repair the wrong his example had done.

IV. What made jehoshaphat so prompt to return to the right path when once he had left it? His deep sense of God and right appreciation of His character. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts. Nothing so controllingly underlies what a man is and does as his cherished thoughts of God. (Monday Club Sermons.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

And therefore you who are in Gods stead, and do his work, and must give an account to him, must imitate God here. Of

respect of persons, see Deu 10:17; Job 34:19; Act 10:4.

No taking of gifts; so as to pervert judgment for them, by comparing this with Exo 23:8; Deu 16:19; Pro 17:23.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you,…. And act as having that before your eyes, and on your hearts:

take heed and do it; do the commands enjoined them by him, and do judgment according to the law of God:

for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God; none in his nature, nor in his law; none commanded nor approved of by him, and therefore none should be done by his representatives in judgment:

nor respect of persons; whether high or low, rich or poor:

nor taking of gifts; he accepts not the faces of men, nor receives bribes, nor should his judges; this is forbidden by him, De 16:19.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(7) Wherefore.And.

The fear of the Lord.A dread, or awe, of Jehovah. (See 2Ch. 17:10.)

Take heed and do (a hendiadys, i.e., act heedfully. deal warily).

Iniquityi.e., want of equity, unfairness, injustice iavlah). To the marginal references add the prohibition, Deu. 16:19. They who judge for Jehovah (2Ch. 19:6) are bound to judge like Jehovah.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

2Ch 19:7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do [it]: for [there is] no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

Ver. 7. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. ] Fear to offend so great a majesty. Cave, spectat Cato, was a watchword among the Romans. The Turkish senate is very careful what they say or do, when they know that the grand signior is at the dangerous door, and hears all.

Take heed and do it. ] Abundans cautela hic non nocet.

For there is no iniquity with the Lord our God. ] As neither must there be with you, whom he hath intrusted with the administration of his earthly kingdom. The Athenian judges, before they ascended the tribunal, swore that they would without writhing or warping, give sentence according to the laws; and in those things concerning which there were no laws, according to conscience and equity, which the Greeks call , – the most righteous sentence. a

Nor respect of persons. ] He heareth causes speak, and not persons; so should ye. The ancients, for this, pictured justice blind. The Areopagites heard causes in the dark; but so did not those other Athenian judges, who, having the fair harlot Phryne before them, convicted of some great crime, and being about to condemn her, absolverunt tamen postquam conspexerunt speciosissimum eius pectus, &c., acquitted her nevertheless, when they had beheld her beautiful bosom, which Hyperides her lawyer showed them, to move them to pity her. Was this agreeable to their oath mentioned in the former note? It is reported of Trajan the emperor, that he neither feared nor hated any man living. b

Nor taking of gifts. ] God is not : he rejecteth the sacrifices of the wicked, and will not be bribed. Demosthenes was by Harpalus, to the hazard of his country; but Phocion would not, for when Alexander the Great sent him great gifts to win him over thereby to his side, he asked the messengers why their master sent gifts to him rather than to any other of the Athenians. They answered, Because he holdeth you to be honest, and therefore best deserving. He replied, Carry back his gifts therefore; Et me talem esse porro sinat, and let him suffer me still to continue in mine honesty.

a Archaeol. Attic., 113.

b Plutarch., Vit. x., Rhet. in Hyperide.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)